Above is a pic of blogger Joz and me. She’s trying to steal my bag. Anyway.

The shortage of progress report posts lately is due to the lack of actual progress. Instead, I’ve been dabbling these days. Oh, lots of dabbling. That’s what you do when you don’t know what to do. You dabble.

For one, I’ve been designing for another designer. That has been an amazing experience and loads of fun. His style and brand point of view is distinctly different and divergent from TZ’s, so we’re in no way competitors. You could describe his label as fashion-forward and highly conscious of current trends, lots of bells and whistles. His target buyer couldn’t be a bigger contrast from my target buyer, and that’s been an interesting exercise, to design for someone with tastes really quite different from mine.

(Not a bag I would carry myself.)

(I can show you these images because they are not actually being used.)

Production wise, I’ve also been dabbling. Pretty much everywhere except the PRC now. To China’s credit, the one positive point of manufacturing there (before) was how fast they were (when they wanted to be). We are currently working with several manufacturers, none of them in China, with one in particular very dearly close to home (cross fingers), and while I have enjoyed the service experiences so far, they’re a whole lot slooooower. I’m not complaining, just saying. If you want quality and personal attention, you’re going to have to wait for it. If you want fast turnaround and cheap prices, some things will have to give, and it’s usually quality and personal attention. Good to have learned firsthand this otherwise common-sense-ish lesson. So here is me saying to you, “After personally touching the blazing flame several times, I may now confidently confirm that the fire is indeed hot. Ouch.” And folks, now you know, in case you’re an idiot like me and hadn’t known this before, yes, the metaphorical fire is quite hot.

When I’m not designing (or in pursuit of any of the other dozen of my interests), I’m the managing editor of Kartika Review, a national APIA literary arts journal. We’re currently working on finalizing the 2011 anthology, which will be due out in print later this month.

Flyer design by Lac Su.

By the way if you’re in the San Diego area and interested in APIA literature, be sure to attend our anthology launch party and reading event January 27, Friday, 8:30 p.m. at the Thumbprint Art Gallery in La Jolla, CA. Check out the Facebook page for the event. It’s organized by the lovely Jennifer Derilo, one of Kartika‘s editors, and Lac Su (look him up if you’re not already familiar with his amazing work).

With regard to that other designer, I can’t wait to tell you all more once the details of our collaboration are solidified.

I am pissed as f*** over the purse hook polish wipe things I ordered, although what can I say, maybe it’s my own darn fault.

You can’t tell from any photos I’d take of the wipes, but every wipe has embossed into it “Zheng Cheng Long.” I haven’t a f****** clue what that means nor do I care. It shouldn’t be there.

You would think after my many traumatizing experiences dealing with Chinese factories I would have known better than to order my polish wipe things from China, but I mean these were just polish wipe things, what could possibly go wrong?

I even specifically e-mailed the manufacturer prior to order, inquiring whether the wipes were completely blank, void of any designs, decorations, embossings, logos, etc. I explained who I was and what I needed the wipes for and emphasized how important it was that there were no designs, decorations, embossings, or logos of any kind on the wipes.

I mean, it was a great discounted deal. That should have been the second red flag. You get what you pay for. Still! I wouldn’t have ever expected the seller to outright lie to me!

So I now have a giant stack of purse hook polish wipes that are otherwise of good sound quality, except every one of them has “Zheng Cheng Long” embossed on them. Holy moly @#$%^&*. I don’t know what I’m going to do with these things now. I’m so pissed. So pissed. If this entire transaction had occurred in the States, you better believe I’d be seeking legal recourse. But it’s in China and ultimately, it’s just not worth pursuing. All I can do is wallow in my own fury.

The seller even had the audacity to include a Christmas card (see photo above). Gah!

Well. *breath, breath, exhale* I’ll figure something out.

In other cheerier news, let’s announce our first giveaway winner!

I opted for Excel’s random number generator. Here were the entrants:

Hubby, my finance whiz, showed me how to do this:

And the winner is…

Number 6, Laura, a “geektastic girl attempting creative proctastination” (her words, not mine) of “The Blog of Worldly Delights.”

Laura, my dear, I will be contacting you privately soon. I wanted to package the TZ purse hooks with the polish wipes and the velveteen drawstring bags, but at this point, we’re going to have to discuss further. As you can clearly see in the first part of this post, we’re having problems. Gah~!

Anyway, thanks for playing, everybody!

In other news…

Greetings from Lake Tahoe. I have paws!

Purse Hook Polish Wipes Update: I’ve been trying to negotiate with the seller. The seller not only refuses to acknowledge any fault or misrepresentation, she assures me that the “Zheng Cheng Long” is pretty. Pretty! That’s what she said! The words are pretty and is part of the decoration and design. Some people are incredible! :: sooo pissed ::

I tried again to take photos to show you what I’m talking about with the “Zheng Cheng Long.” (Below to the left is the back view of one of the TZ clutch samples. To the right–the wretched, blasted purse hook polish wipe things.)

If I do crazy funky things with the image in Photoshop, you get the following contrast, which makes the “Zheng Cheng Long” a little more visible:

Un-effing-believable! And then to add a farcical Merry Christmas card like you have no foresight that I, the buyer, will be royally pissed off… and then after I do get royally pissed off, to tell me “Zheng Cheng Long” is part of the decoration and design and it’s pretty?!

Some people (or sellers in China) are born with no shame at all. Bah humbug. Christmas indeed.

I know I’ve been inactive on this blog for the past few months, and I feel bad about that. So to segue me back into activity here on this design diary, I’m holding a bloggers’ giveaway, just a small one. I’m giving away two Taryn Zhang purse hooks. (Click on that link for more info on these nifty little doodads.)

Why two? Well, dear, because it is the giving season now. One is for you, and one is for you to give away. =)

Whatcha gotta do? Here’s a summary:

Checklist:

[  ] You’re a blogger.

[  ] Leave a comment to this post.

[  ] Share link to this blog on FB or Twitter.

[  ] Follow this blog in your blog reader.

If you win and I’ve sent you the purse hooks:

[  ] Blog about this blog on your blog.

The winner will be selected at random about two weeks from now, on December 19.

That is basically all you need to know/do to enter. If you still have questions, though, more deets after the jump.

Now here are the guidelines in long form:

TO ENTER:

1. Bona Fide Blogger. You must be authoring a blog that to date has at least 5 entries. Hence the title “bloggers’ giveaway.” [And I reserve the right to refuse awarding you if, you know, your 5-entry-blog looks fake. This is for legit bloggers, my friends.] No, your blog does not need to be about handbags or fashion. Any kind of blog will do, so long as it’s a bona fide blog.
2. One Entry Per Blogger. Sorry, no, you cannot enter a gajillion times. Only once. One entry per blogger. If you author fifty blogs and enter fifty times, that’s cheating and while I’ll probably never find out, it’s gonna be on you. Let’s play fair. One blogger, one entry. If you host multiple blogs, you get to choose which one blog to enter under.
3. Comment. Leave a comment to this post so I know you’ve entered. I’ll be selecting the winner at random from the comments section. So if you don’t leave a comment, you can’t possibly win. Does that make sense? =P Also, be sure you leave in your comment an easy way for me to privately message you in the event you win.
4. Share Via Twitter or Facebook. Share through either your Twitter or Facebook account a link to TZ. You can link this blog directly, blog.tarynzhang.com, or the TZ website, tarynzhang.com.
5. Subscribe to this Blog. Subscribe to this blog with either Bloglovin’ or your blog reader of choice. For quick links, see the right hand side bar.

Alas, there are more guidelines… keep reading… I know. I’m horrible.

ACTIONS REQUIRED, POST-GIVEAWAY:

Once I’ve selected at random a winner for this giveaway, the winner agrees to do the following after he or she has received the purse hook:

1. Post a blog entry with some reference to Taryn Zhang. Whatever you want. I trust you. The focal point of the post does not have to be about TZ, by the way. I’m self-centered, but not that self-centered. After you receive the purse hook, post something on your blog about Taryn Zhang New York. You can do a whole post featuring TZ, any one aspect of TZ, the purse hook you just got, whatevs. Go nuts. Or you can simply reference it sweetly somewhere in the post and make it seem like TZ relates to whatever was the focal point of said post. Hey, I’ll take that too. Be sure to link me to your post once it’s up. =)
2. Give away that second purse hook. Give it to your mom, your best friend since preschool, your roommate, another fellow blogger, host a giveaway on your own blog, anyone at all who you care about. That’s the only condition: someone you care about. No, sorry. Make it two conditions: (1) someone you care about, and (2) someone who will actually put a purse hook to good use. Yeah. That second condition makes sense, right? Be sure to let me know who you gave away that second purse hook to and, to satiate my curiosity, also let me know why you chose that person.
3. Complete post-giveaway actions soon. I’m not going to stamp on here a set time frame or deadline. But get it done within reason. I would say a month is within reason. If you suddenly get slammed with work in your life, within a couple months is okay, too. You get it, right?

True, the post-giveaway part that is to happen after I’ve selected the winner and sent out the purse hooks is a leap of faith on my part, but one I’ll gladly take. I’ve had an amazing, positive experience via this design diary, so I’m in!

Okay. That’s all of it. Bloggers’ giveaway to close on December 19. Love you!

Was greeted with that note on my Facebook Wall this morning. Both redacted names are high school buddies. How insane — insane in, oh, such a very, very good way!

Also, in the last few weeks I’ve received an overwhelming amount of warmth, encouragement, and support. (And Christmas order requests. Again, so sorry, but we have no inventory to sell right now. See previous few posts on this blog for why.)

Thank you, all. =)

While we work on production, I figured I would introduce the bags post by post, and review my uses of them. Since these are bags that I’ve designed, I won’t even pretend to be objective. =P  Of course all of them are great!

Our first stop in this series, then, is the Executive satchel brief. Read more about the bag here on the TZ website. I called it “The Executive” because there’s something so bold and confident about this bag, that it almost demands to be a leader of sorts.

I’ve been using the Executive sample in black as of late, and I always feel like a million bucks when I carry it. In fact, it may be just a little too bold for me! I get the sense that people are staring at my bag whenever I have the Executive on me.

Nonetheless I find this to be the prettiest of all the bags in the debut collection. If you want to be noticed, this bag will do it for you. If you are looking to blend in, then the Executive might not be a good option.

The two handles are short and drop down when not in use. In addition, the bag comes with an adjustable, detachable shoulder strap, which is the most functional way to sport this bag. I always use it with the shoulder strap. It’s a hassle of a bag without.

Admittedly, the handles are just for looks. You can grab onto them and strut into a courtroom feeling sharp and confident, but for every other occasion, they’re just a pain. I tried making prototypes with longer more functional handles, but they looked crappy. You can see what I mean about the crappy longer handles here, in a previous blog post.

This proportion of handles that I have above is the best aesthetically, and I figure it’s fine, since there’s always that shoulder strap.

A back zipper pocket fits smartphones, keys, or wallets easily, and I designed it specifically for this purpose. When I’m headed to my car or on the go, I dislike rummaging through my bag for the essentials. Hence, the back pocket.

Also note the purse feet. I love them purse feet!

Since this is a slim bag, it basically tops off after a 1-inch 3-ring binder, my sketchbook, and a composition notebook. You could tuck in maybe a few more files, but that’s about it. And if you want to carry around your laptop, then this will pretty much just fit the laptop and your few girly essentials (and that is only if your laptop is the same size as or smaller than the standard 3-ring binder). Oh, but if you’re like my sister and swear by those new ultra-slim Macbooks, then you’ll comfortably fit the ultra-slim Macbook, a law school casebook, and heck, maybe even a few of those law school supplements as well.

The Executive is definitely for the economical packer. If you’re a minimalist, this bag will be just fine for you. If you’re a packrat, I don’t recommend this bag.

This is why I typically don’t carry around the Executive. I carry tons of crap to and from work everyday, and need something roomy like the Ambitionist, Catalyst, Peripatetic, or Workaholic. I seem to be able to stuff in way more junk into those bags., esp. since the side walls of the Executive are not expandable. We previously made prototypes with expandable walls, and it really messed with the proportions of the bag and made it look funky, so we took that option out.

The Executive in Traditional Black is very… black… so to give it a pop of color, I like to tie a silk scarf to one side. Here in the above photo, I’m using a lovely scarf Hubby got me as a gift from one of his business trips. The scarf is from Tie Rack, London. Incidentally, Tie Rack, London was also started by a lawyer back in 1981. Three decades later… Wow, if 30 years from now Taryn Zhang could be as big as Tie Rack is now? I’d be the happiest person ever.

Let me get to the best feature of the Executive though: all the miscellaneous pockets. To each side of the main compartment, there are small open pockets for your business cards, phone, wallet, keys, makeup, etc. Thus, I put away all my papers or my laptop in the main compartment and stick my compact, lip gloss, phone, etc. in the small side wall compartments.

Here are a few views of the interior. On one interior side wall there’s a zip pocket.

(Note how the interior zipper heads are not metal like the exterior zipper heads. Originally they were all the nicer metal zipper heads, but I found that it’d bang into my sunglasses or phone, etc., and that was a no-no. So now the interior zipper heads are as you see in the above pic. Not as cute, but better than getting your stuff all scratched up.)

On the other, three open pockets. All Taryn Zhang bags have this interior feature: one zipper pocket on one wall, and three open pockets on the other. In the above photo, I’ve used one pocket for my pens, another for lotion and lipstick, and the third holds my sunglasses. I never have to go hunting through my bag for these items. =) They’re right there neat and organized in the pocket compartments. Love it!

For a compilation of links on The Executive, visit the Alpha Collection page.

There’s the resident kitty posing with some of the remaining TZ bags for review. He’s been such a trooper through all this, putting in just as many hours as I have, that he definitely deserves a corporate title and should be put on payroll.

For some time now I’ve been meaning to feature each of the bags in an individual blog post, but just hadn’t gotten around to it. I use all of my bags regularly and even have a couple of close friends using them regularly as well to give me feedback and criticism. I have spent the last year and a half tweaking each bag per the feedback, so that was another reason why I hadn’t featured the bags here yet– each bag was still a work in progress.

The Executive, though, is done. What you see above is the final product that we are going to sell. I love this bag, absolutely love it, because it fits into the high-professional corporate conservative work environment, and yet does so on its own terms– it’s unique, bold and even borderline brash; feminine without being dolly pink, princessy or frilly; and works with either a full suit (super conservative) or jeans and a nice blouse (super casual).